Having Trouble Passing NREMT-B - Suggestions?

[kamai.nicole]

Second times the charm?

So I took my NREMT a couple of months ago. Not knowing what I was walking into and being arrogant by not studying, I answered 120 questions before the system shut down. When I left that day I knew I had failed the test and was going to have to take it again. Since then I've busted my *** studying for my next exam. I even went as far as purchasing NREMT testing on different sites, re-reading chapters in which I saw that I didn't do well in and made copies of my (school) workbook and answered the questions all over again. Today I took the NREMT-B test again. I wasn't nervous when I walked in and actually felt a little indifferent about the test when I left. The thing that concerned me though, is that yet again the system shut down at 120 questions.
I am attempting to not feel as though I've failed again, but the truth is I doh34r: What's even worse is that I feel like a failure because I am not a good test taker to begin with....actually I'm horrible at it. My entire life I've always done well with the my classes and course work. Then I get the test and bomb it without fail. I'm curious though because on the test (NREMT) and I had some of the same questions twice. Which sucks for me because a few of them I wasn't sure about my answer and wondered if the system was trying to say "hey jackass think again". I'm sure that wasn't the case but I feel a little robbed by this. The questions weren't like anything I've taken on my practice test, workbook, or in school for that matter. And some of the questions I felt as though were never covered in the EMT-B book. Now I don't know what to do...I won't know the answer for 24-48 hours and I don't know if I failed or not. I can only wait.h34r: I am in total despair because I doing this, becoming a paramedic and fire fighter is something I was born to do finally and it's going all wrong! :sad:

 

[KVNY]

My suggestions are to read the questions carefully and think about what it is that they are asking you.

Think back to your training and the patient assessment. Follow the ABCs

Use a variety of study materials

 

[Medic2b1623]

May I suggest parameducators.com Yes, you are right. The test will adapt itself to your answers. And yes you could have more than one right answer, the object is to pick the very bestest one!! VERY FRUSTRATING!!!

 

[*MX-EMT]

EMT ACHIEVE. its like 20 buck and its an online national registry prep test with a bunch of dif test and registry prep questions. that and a brady book is all you need to pass. take every test and quiz on that site till you get an 80% or better each time and read all od the bold in your brady book and youll be fine promisse. Worked for me and pass it on to others and it works everytime. good luck! youll get it. took me 3x. discovered the secret on my 2nd time and passed my 3rd.

 

[KyleG]

The test is technical, that was my issue going in. just think more no# and steps

also another problem I had on the first few questions was i wasnt thinking national I was thinking county's protocols

 

[carmbrust50]

There is a website/program called something along the lines of jblearning.com. I don't know how much it is because my cousin let me use his account, but that has about 500 questions all broken up into airway, cardiology, ob/ge, operwtions etc. It might be expensive, but I tried a lot of programs and this is the best. Even gives you a final that is electronically similar to the NREMT. Also I saw some questions worded VERY similar to the practice ones I saw. Great program. 98% pass chance.

 

[forKingandCountry]

My 2 cents.

I just took the exam (taken as a re-certify by exam) and passed. I had an excellent course and instructors for my class back in 2010 (NOLS W-EMT), they prepared us very well for the registry exam. When I prepared to study for the exam again this spring I went back over my AAOS 9th edition book and read it. As I did, I took specific notes and made sure that I understood what the text said. For instance, S/S in shock can get confusing when you are faced with a question that asks for early signs and doesn't exactly tell you what type of shock it is. They seem like they overlap when you are faced with the test questions. Pick out the S/S, diseases, anatomy, and treatments that you do not know 100% and go over them until you do. Use the EMT-B national standard curriculum to pair up and follow along with you as you go through the chapters. I had two questions (of 70) that were related to helicopters, one of which was not in the section "on helicopters" it was thrown in elsewhere. That makes sense though, cause if you read the most recent newsletter you see where they draw their questions from (a variety of sources).

When you go over the topics/text and come to something like "tension pneumothorax" don't read over the material like you are expecting to get a question that says: Tension pnuemo is best described as ........... No, it is going to ask you: What is the first (early) sign of tension pneumotohorax? And two (sometimes more) of those answers are gonna look really good. If you KNOW your material then you know what the answer is, period.

 

[julesdamedic]

I would suggest taking a test that identifies the objectives you need to study as well as the type and level of questions you are missing. It's not a matter of studying harder, but studying smarter. Reading the book from cover-to-cover does little help in identifying what you need to study. PM me if you need further assistance.

 

[pitbullkid]

I would suggest taking a test that identifies the objectives you need to study as well as the type and level of questions you are missing. It's not a matter of studying harder, but studying smarter. Reading the book from cover-to-cover does little help in identifying what you need to study. PM me if you need further assistance.

Hey,

I saw your recent post and was wondering if you can further elaborate your statement. I failed the first time and I felt as if i did well but obviously didnt.

I would PM you but it wont let me

 

[julesdamedic]

Pitbullkid,

I just sent you a PM with further details. Let me know if you have additional questions.

 

[EMSpursuit]

Buying a study guide book worked for me. My advice would be don't read to in depth into the question. Just answer common sense ABCs order.

 

[EMSANTHEM]

i passed my written the first time no probelm and all i did was study of the book from class and mostly using EMTB.com great website

 

[astoeckel]

Just a question or two?

I was told that there was a time limit and that also if they know your passing or failing theyll shut off the monitors. A emt once told me that they way to know if your passing or failing is that if the questions get harder your doing well and if they get easier your doing bad. Does anyone know if thats true. And can someone tell me all the things they ask you to do on test day?

 

[cheermom78]

I just took my test for the first time on may 25 and they sent me a letter breaking down what i needed to study by section, (cardiac/respiration,etc) then it told me if i nearly passed, passed, or below passing. I didn't get a # grade. I knew that afternoon I had failed. big let down for me. I'll try again in August.
I had 135 minutes to take the test.

 

[Jdm]

Whats better to prepare for the NREMT

Hi i recently passed my emtb course and i attempted the nremt twicefailed both times and im motivated to pass it im good at test taking but when it comes down to reading/ studying out of a book i cant focus or sit still aka... Reading isnt my thing i have my class book and the kaplan college fourth edition its cool but dosent seem useful realy need some tips on a good good book (if it comes down to reading) and tips on how i should study, im gonna try the free practice test and see how that goes plz if u have any tips let me know motivated to be in the ems world thnx

 

[MrJones]

It all comes down to this - You will walk out feeling absolutely sure that you failed, but if you know the material at an appropriate level you will pass. If you don't, you won't. It's that simple. No tricks. No gimmicks. No nothing aside from knowing what you're supposed to know in order to be an acceptably competent rookie EMT.

So my recommendation to all of you who are worrying about passing the test is that you spend more time studying and reviewing, and less time worrying about how much time you have to test or how many questions you'll answer before the test ends or whatever other distractions you're worried about.

 

[Youngin]

I re-test for my written tomorrow, and I've been taking JBLearning's Test Prep practice final exam's all day, scoring anywhere from 85-95%. Does anyone know if there's some percent you need in each section of the NREMT written to pass?

Just trying to figure out whether or not I should be worried that I'll pass. >.<

 

[Gray970]

I think that you have to score at least a 70% in every area. Not positive on that. Here it's on computer and for the study guide I used if you didn't score at least a 70% it recommended remedial work.

 

[NomadicMedic]

There's no "percentage" for passing the computer adaptive test. When you successfully demonstrate competence in a area, you pass that section. If you start getting questions like "how many lungs does a normal person have", you either passed everything or you should reevaluate your decision to work in EMS.

If you're passing JB Learning with a 90% in every section, and you understand WHY your answer is correct, you should be ok. As long as you're not just memorizing answers.

 

[firedad31]

I went into the test feeling pretty good about the class I passed and everything else. I didn't freak myself out on studying so hard that I got aggrivated. Well, I noticed I had a lot of questions pertaining to patient scenarios with my answers being what would I do next in terms of using a BVM or 15 LPM via NRB. I got booted at number 123 I beleive. I didn't feel too good about the test.

So I get to work this morning and check the website, and there it is. FAILED. So Now I'm wondering, did I not study enough? I'm a pretty good test taker and I used the KAPLAN book a lot, but I noticed that the book was very very easy. I've been searching the forums for other study materials besides the tons of notes I have. I hear the BRADY books are good to use. But all in all I have been bummed the whole day b/c I was hoping to knock this one out of the park on the first try. Any advice? Thanks!

There are commercial companies out there that have tests and the like to use. FISDAP.net is one program and there are others out there.